MonicaPiece6

“There’s a lid for every pot, even the cracked pots,” Grandma said. I remember asking, “But how will //I// know when I have found my lid?” The best advice I ever received came in the form of her answer. I was 21 years old and drowning in a sea of bad dates. I had just stopped in to bring Grandma her prescription when Grandpa asked the dreaded question. “Do you ever plan to marry?” It was not a wholly unexpected question, months earlier Grandma had told me that when I announced my intent to teach, Grandpa had declared I would become an old maid. I was beginning to fear that he was right, because I had yet to succeed in accurately reading men. This is why I turned to Grandma, married for over 60 years, she had wisdom in this area. “But how will //I// know when I have found my lid?” “He will want to be around you,” she said. I remember thinking “//that’s// an answer?” Still I sagely let her keep talking. “Oh you’ll know. The interested ones will make up excuses to talk with you, to hang around you, just watch for it.” Then she added, “Oh and don’t rule out the quiet ones either.” Since Grandpa was practically a mute old farm boy, I took her at her word on that, too. Heeding her advice was a challenge. I wanted the ones //I// wanted and found myself hanging around those men almost willing them to show interest; however, by graduate school I was getting better at detecting men who were attracted to me. In fact, by paying better attention to those around me I met an “Almost Mr. Right” during my second year of graduate school. Happily I found that I did not always have to listen to his stories, because he wanted to know about me! To this day I am still single, but by using Grandma’s advice and only dating the men who like me (and not the other way around), I have had fewer heartbreaks and sweeter memories.
 * “In Search of….” **